3 BOOKS I’VE ENJOYED READING THIS SUMMER

Today, we are going to talk about something I really really like which is… wait for it….. BOOKS! lol not school books, I’m talking about novels. For as long as I remember, I’ve always loved reading novels , it’s was the only gift I asked for whenever my mum travelled, there’s just something about entering the world of the characters and ofcourse getting disappointed as you reach the end but that’s okay.

Like the title of this post rightly stated, I’m going to talk about 3 books and try as much as possible not to give too much away so here we go….

1) PURPLE HIBISCUS- CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHE

When it comes to chimamanda, I’m always biased because she’s my favourite author but that doesn’t mean this book isn’t absolutely fantastic.

The book is about a family living in Enugu state. Eugene the rigid and wicked ( permit me to say ) father and catholic patriarch who worships routines instead of God, Beatrice the loving mother who has become quiet as a mouse because of her husband, Kambili the brilliant but also foolish and annoyingly quiet daughter and protagonist/narrator and Jaja the son whose sudden boldness caused his father to get even madder at the beginning of the book

‘Papa’ as Eugene was fondly called was an abuser at home ( which is quite hypocritical considering his strong religious beliefs) but a successful businessman, humanitarian and defender of truth outside his home. He tried to keep his children shielded from the real world and thought he gave them a seemingly ‘perfect life’ until they went to visit their widowed lecturer Aunty, Aunty Ifeoma and her children – Outspoken Amaka, Extremely brilliant and inquisitive man of house Obiora and Young Chima. There they get to know more about their ‘heathen’ grandfather Pa-Nnukwu and Kambili gets to explore her feelings for catholic priest Father Amadi.

Favourite quote: “we did that often, asking each other questions whose answer we already knew. Perhaps it was so that we would not ask the other questions, the ones whose answers we did not want to know”

I’ve read this book three or four times now, that’s how much I love it and I definitely recommend it!!

2) A PERFECT LIFE- DANIELLE STEEL

I’ve always wanted to read a book of her’s and I could have if I just settled for the soft copy but I wanted the hard copy so I waited and finally got it at the airport

The novel explores career, relationships and motherhood realities. The main Character Blaise McCarthy is a renowned and successful journalist who has not exactly been lucky in love. She lost her first husband, Bill, a cameraman at a very young age while he was covering a war zone. She was the 5th wife of her 2nd husband, Harry whom she had a child with the marriage lasted for 5 years. Her 3rd relationship with Andrew crashed after she discovered he never intended to divorce his wife.

Her daughter Salima was diagnosed with Juvenile Type 1 Diabetes which made her blind from a very young age. She lives at a year round boarding school with her care giver. She’s very understanding of her mother’s career and is okay with the demands of her job. The death of her caregiver, causing the temporary closure of the school under quarantine caused her to be sent home with a new caregiver Simon.

Simon is a handsome opinionated man who was inspired to get into the profession because of his older brother who became blind. He broke up a relationship of three years with a fellow teacher at Caldwell because she refused to divorce her husband

A young woman Susie is hired and is probably being groomed to take blaise’s place causing her a lot of stress because she feels her career is being threatened and as if that’s not enough, she just might be falling in love with her child’s caregiver who is possibly still in love with his ex and is still struggling to break free from the charm of Andrew.

The book is quite predictable so for those that like predictable, this is for y’all. I rate it 7/10

3) THE SECRET LIVES OF BABA SEGI’S WIVES – LOLA SHONEYIN

If I could describe this book in one word, it’d be AMAZING. The plot of the book is set in Ibadan in 2002 about BabaSegi and his four wives – Iya Segi ( who has two children- a girl Segi and a boy Akin ), Iya Tope ( who has three girls- Tope, Afolake and Motun), Iya Femi ( who has two boys Femi and Kole ) and Bolanle ( who doesn’t have a child yet). Baba Segi is a typical Yoruba man who believes his many wives and sea of children should earn him respect in the society.

The entry of Bolanle into the Alao home caused a lot of unease amongst the other wives, especially the first and third. They feel threatened because she is a university graduate and her inability to bear a child after two years of marriage unlike her senior wives could expose the lies and deception of the Ishola household.

One thing I love about this book is that it was told from the point of view of the various characters with their individual back stories as you move forward in the book.

I rate it a strong 9/10 ( because like Nigerian lecturers say, 10 is for God lol )

I really enjoyed writing this and I’ll probably do it again. I hope y’all like it too.

Who is your favourite author and what is your favourite book? Have you read any of the three books above ? What do you think about them?

PS: if you are looking for a very ‘bookish’ blog where there are a lot of book reviews, Afoma’s blog is a very good place to start.

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10 thoughts on “3 BOOKS I’VE ENJOYED READING THIS SUMMER”

Purple hibiscus brings back so much high school memory. Everyone wanted to read that book so bad including people who didn’t read novels. My favourite author is bell hooks. You need to check her out if you haven’t yet.

Ikr! So much memories! I think the counsellor gave a copy to all senior students or maybe just SS3 students, I really can’t remember but I’ve read it again and again after that , I just love the book.
I’ve never heard of Bell Hooks before, I check out some of her books , thanks for always stopping by ❤️

I have a long list of books I want to read and most of them are religious/self help books. I will be adding Purple hibiscus to the list because I like Chimamanda and I enjoy watching her speech on youtube.